DEAL REACHED ON DEVELOPING GM PROPERTY.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Capping a three-year effort to revive the abandoned GM plant in Van Nuys, a tentative agreement was announced Monday to sell 68 acres of the site to a San Fernando Valley partnership for a retail-industrial complex.

While the purchase price was not disclosed, company officials said the agreement with Selleck Properties and the Voit Companies will result in a $75 million to $100 million development - featuring a large warehouse-type retail store, theaters and manufacturing facilities.

Completion of the sale is contingent on the developers getting a series of approvals from the city, including environmental clearances and development incentives.

"As longtime San Fernando Valley developers, the Voit Companies and Selleck Properties are both extremely enthusiastic about this opportunity to revitalize the central Valley," said Voit Vice President Robert Lumley. "Our work here could result in a turnaround for the area, including the addition of new construction jobs, retail jobs, industrial, distribution and manufacturing jobs, as well as the generation of additional revenue to the city through new retail sales tax."

Claudia Killeen, head of surplus properties for General Motors, said the Voit-Selleck joint venture was chosen over at least one higher bidder because its principal partners are based in the Valley and understand its needs.

"It had to do with commitment to the Valley," Killeen said. "We wanted someone who would stick with this and would have a chance to succeed. This was not the highest price that was offered. We wanted a development that could succeed."

GM will keep 27 acres of the 100-acre property to conduct required state emissions tests on its vehicles, she said.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon said reviving the site, which from the plant's opening in 1947 was the heart of the Valley's industrial activity, sends an important message to Los Angeles as a whole.

"This is not just good for the San Fernando Valley, it's good for the entire city," said Alarcon, who helped broker the deal with Mayor Richard Riordan's office after the plant was shut down in 1992. "Just like the federal and state governments cannot give up on Los Angeles, Los Angeles cannot give up on the Valley."

The joint venture of Voit Companies and Selleck Properties is targeting a discount warehouse-type retail outlet to anchor the 65-acre project, said Daniel F. Selleck, a partner in the company.

The mixture of retail and industrial facilities and a theater complex is expected to add 2,000 new jobs to the area, Selleck said, not counting construction jobs.

Although the purchase-sale agreement was not formally announced until Monday, officials said it had been signed Dec. 23.

Alarcon said the deal - the outline of which was reported in the Daily News on Jan. 4 - was not formally disclosed until Monday because all sides were hoping to provide additional details, including the names of tenants.

Although no tenants were announced Monday, Alarcon said officials decided to make the announcement to dispel speculation that had arisen in the absence of an announced deal.

"There have been a lot of rumors out there about what would be happening to this site and we felt now was the time to address what really will be happening," Alarcon said.

The developers said the deal is contingent upon an environmental review, and obtaining a city declaration that the development plan will address such issues as increased traffic and air pollution.

The city is being asked to provide about $4 million in incentives. These include a reduction in sewer hookup fees and subsidies for road improvements, including the extension of Arminta Street. Business tax fees also could be reduced, based on the number of new jobs created.

An LAPD satellite station, with an estimated price tag of $2 million, also is planned on a portion of a 5-acre parcel previously donated by GM to the city,' Alarcon said.

In a best-case scenario, Selleck said approvals could be secured by fall and the project could be open for business in late spring or summer 1997.

Selleck said the retail component will be built on 30 acres, adding that his company has been talking to some warehouse-type retail stores, any one of which could take up to 100,000 square feet. It also has approached several motion picture chains concerning a theater complex.

The Voit Companies will oversee the industrial and manufacturing portion of the project on 35 acres of the property, Lumley said.

Both developers have a long history in the Valley.

Selleck Properties was founded by Robert Selleck, who has lived in the Van Nuys area since 1938 when he and his wife - who once worked for GM - moved from Detroit.

Selleck's son, Daniel, who was born in Van Nuys, said the current project involves more than a "bottom line," and that sentiment played a role in his family's desire to buy the plant and to help restore the area.

"Having a chance to get the GM property, with a police station to be built on it, seemed right to me," said Daniel Selleck, who reminisced about a field trip to the GM plan as a sixth-grader.

The Voit Companies is headed by Robert Voit, who was one of the primary developers of the Warner Center area.

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